


Captain America Does Not Panic (But Steve Rogers Might)

by Hils



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-09
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:03:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1590971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hils/pseuds/Hils
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Losing Bucky the first time was bad enough and the thought of losing him again is almost too much. Luckily help is at hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Captain America Does Not Panic (But Steve Rogers Might)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Steve & Bucky: Mini Adventure](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1521983) by [miss_whimsy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_whimsy/pseuds/miss_whimsy). 



> Thanks to [Chaneen](http://chaneen.livejournal.com/) for the beta. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Steve held Bucky’s hand, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest in a way that was probably creepy to everyone else in the room, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“Sorry,” Simmons murmured when she bumped into him, while trying to attach a thing to Bucky’s arm. Steve had no idea what it was but it looked important, and slightly scary. 

“I’m in the way,” Steve said apologetically as he got to his feet, giving Bucky’s hand one final squeeze before letting go.

Simmons looked like she was going to protest for a moment, but then she flashed him a reassuring smile. “I know it doesn’t look it, but it really is quite a simple procedure, now we understand what HYDRA did to him. You’ll have your friend back soon, I promise.”

He wanted to ask how long ‘soon’ was, but worried if he did that they’d start rushing. The last thing he wanted was for something to go wrong because he was impatient. So instead, he retreated back against the wall, watched them work, and tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. 

Coulson moved over to stand next to him. “He’ll be okay. I trust my team to get this done.”

“I trust you, Phil,” Steve replied with a forced smile. “I do. And I know your team will do everything they can for Bucky.”

But he couldn’t stop unwanted images assaulting his mind. Bucky waking up and not knowing him, or worse, seeing Steve as his mission again. They’d made so much progress since Bucky stopped running and turned up at Steve’s apartment asking for help. 

“I can’t lose him again, Phil. It’s just not an option.”

He felt his chest tighten as he imagined the cold eyes of the Winter Soldier, how if Bucky regressed back to that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill everyone on this plane to get to Steve.

“I can’t… Phil, I can’t…”

He could barely breathe at all now, and the roaring in his ears blocked out the sound of everything around him. For a brief moment, he wondered if the serum was finally wearing off and his asthma was coming back.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, heard a voice in his ear but he couldn’t make out the words.

“Captain Rogers?”

He snapped to attention at that, his vision clearing enough to see Coulson’s face just in front of his own, eyes worried, but a kind smile on his face.

“Captain Rogers, I have a mission for you. I need you to walk with me. Can you do that?”

He forced a breath into his lungs, and blinked a couple of times until his vision cleared. A mission? He could do that. He needed to do that.

“Yes, sir.”

As they moved out of the room, Coulson kept himself between Steve’s line of vision and Bucky, so he couldn’t see what was happening. He was kind of grateful for that.

“We’ve pinpointed the location of several potential HYDRA bases,” Coulson explained, as he led Steve up the stairs and into the command center. “I’d appreciate your input on which ones we should investigate first.”

Yeah, this was something he could do. His eyes roamed over the map and he pointed to the marker in Bucharest.

“That one. When we were still trying to track down Bucky, we had some intel that pointed to a training camp in Romania. He turned up at my place before we headed out there, and we were going to check it out when he was…” he didn’t want to say ‘fixed’ “...better.”

Coulson nodded. “I’ll have May steer us that way. Perhaps you could look over the files with me in the meantime? Help me come up with the best plan of attack?”

“I can do that.”

“Great. I’ll be right back.”

It was a distraction, that much was obvious, and Steve appreciated the gesture, but as soon as Coulson was out of the room Steve’s mind went straight back to Bucky alone in a room being worked on by people he barely knew. Steve should never have left him, no matter how he felt about what was happening. Bucky needed him, and Steve belonged at his side.

He was halfway back to the stairs when his phone started ringing in his pocket. One of these days, he was going to find out how Tony kept changing his ringtone to The Star Spangled Man despite never actually being anywhere near his phone.

“I’m thinking about new uniforms,” Tony said, as soon as Steve answered. Apparently, they were now beyond normal greetings like ‘hello’.

Steve sighed. This was going to be a long conversation, he could tell.

“Tony, now really isn’t a good time.”

“Relax, we’ve got eyes on your boy; it’s all looking good. You’re our leader, Cap. You need to make important decisions like what we wear when we’re out saving the world. Now sit down and listen.”

Steve flopped into a nearby chair and used his free hand to massage his forehead. Tony would keep calling back, or worse, hack into the PA system again, until they had this conversation and the last thing he wanted was Fitz and Simmons being disturbed or distracted while they were working.

“Okay, Tony, tell me what you’ve got in mind.”

“Right. Well, I started off thinking about Barton’s uniform. He can’t really go running around with the SHIELD logo all over his vest now that SHIELD doesn’t exist. I figured if I was going to design something new for him, I might as well do it for all of us. We need our own brand, you know? Something that shows the world we’re not affiliated with any shady government organizations.”

Steve opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it again. What Tony was saying actually made a lot of sense.

“That’s actually pretty smart,” he conceded. 

He’d got rid of his own SHIELD issued uniform when they’d started trying to kill him, and his old one was back in the Smithsonian, returned with apologies for the new bullet holes and bloodstains. He’d been told that just made it even more of a historical treasure.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a genius. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to accept.”

“Maybe because your last brilliant idea set the lab on fire,” Steve replied with a snort.

“A workplace hazard in the name of science,” Tony responded.

Steve let out a small hum and left it at that. He’d quickly learned that arguing with Tony was pretty much a pointless venture. 

“Anyway,” Tony continued. “I thought you might like some input on your uniform. Don’t tell Coulson. I’m sure he’ll start crying into his new trading cards if I don’t let him design the thing for you. But I’ve been working on this new material that’s thin and light but can still stop a bullet. Maybe you can swing by the tower and try a few things out. You’re not too attached to the helmet, right? Because I’ve got this idea for-”

Steve closed his eyes and let Tony’s words wash over him. He understood most of what was being said and occasionally made little murmurs of agreement, but there was something about Tony’s voice that just allowed Steve to relax and not think about anything for a few minutes.

“Do you think Thor would mind if we stitched a giant A to the back of his cape?” Tony asked, causing Steve to snort as he pictured it. “Why does he wear that thing anyway? It can’t be practical in a fight.”

“No capes!” Steve muttered in his best Edna Mode voice. _The Incredibles_ had been one of his favourite movies of all the ones Tony had introduced him to.

Tony chuckled. “So you’re going to swing by soon, yeah? Natasha would never say it, but she misses you. OW!”

Steve laughed as he heard what had to be Natasha smacking the back of Tony’s head.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Steve promised. “I said I’d show Bucky all our old haunts, even if he doesn’t end up remembering them.”

And now he’s thinking about Bucky again.

“I’m still watching the feed,” Tony replied. “Looks like they’re finishing up, and it all looks good from here.”

Steve frowned. “Already? That didn’t take very long. Is that normal?”

“It is when you’ve got the best minds in the world working on it,” Tony replied. “Trust me, Steve, you’ll have your BFF back soon enough.”

He took a deep breath. Somehow when Tony said it, it actually felt true. “Okay, I trust you, Tony.”

“Ordinarily I’d point out what a colossal mistake that is, but in this case I’m right.”

“Captain Rogers?” Simmons’s voice rang out over the PA system. “Could you come down to the lab, please?”

Steve took another breath. “I guess I’ll see you soon, Tony. Whatever happens, I want you to know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Bucky.”

“You can thank me in person later. We’ll have a welcome back party. Man, it’s been ages since I had a party. See you soon, Steve.”

And without another word he hung up.

Steve slipped his phone back into his pocket, and made his way downstairs to the lab.

Bucky was still laid out with his eyes closed, but the headpiece had been removed. Fitz and Simmons were both smiling as they tidied various pieces of equipment away. That had to be a good sign.

“Did it work?” Steve asked hopefully.

Simmons nodded. “Well, we think so. We won’t know for sure until he wakes up, which should be any minute now. That’s why we called you down here. We need you to ask him something only the two of you know. Something he would have no other way of knowing. Then we’ll know for sure whether his memory is intact or not.”

“But we’re pretty sure it is,” Fitz added. 

Steve moved over to Bucky’s side, taking back his seat and holding Bucky’s hand, just as he’d been doing when Bucky had fallen asleep.

Bucky let out a sleepy murmur and his eyelids started to flicker. Steve had to swallow back the lump in his throat, as he was suddenly reminded to finding Bucky in Zola’s lab all those years ago. 

“Steve?” Bucky’s voice was soft and sleepy, but there was a smile on his lips that warmed Steve to his core. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Bucky smile.

“Hey, Buck. How are you feeling?”

“Remember that time Mrs Peterson gave us some of her husband’s whiskey to help fend off the cold? You only had a sip, but I drank a fifth of the bottle. Kind of feel like that right now.”

Steve blinked back the tears and grinned. “That was the first time you got drunk. You kept telling me I was the best guy you knew and you’d punch out anyone who said otherwise.”

Bucky’s smile widened. “Well, that should have been the obvious clue I was drunk.”

Steve squeezed Bucky’s hand. “Good to have you back.”

He rose and went over to where Fitz and Simmons were exchanging grins with each other. “I feel like I should be doing more than saying ‘thank you’, but it’s all I have right now. Really, I owe you everything.”

“Not at all,” Simmons replied. “That’s why we joined SHIELD in the first place. To do things like this, and help people like Sergeant Barnes.”

Bucky smirked lazily from his chair. “You can help me out any time you like, sweetheart.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Well, now I definitely know you’re back to your old self. You know they call that sexual harassment these days, Buck?”

Simmons just smiled. “He’ll be woozy for a while until the anesthesia wears off, but he just needs rest. If you’re willing to keep an eye on him, you can take him upstairs and let him sleep in a proper bed.”

“Oh, I’ve been keeping an eye on him my whole life.”

“I heard that, punk.”

“Looks like the procedure was a success,” Coulson said from Steve’s side. Steve hadn’t even heard him come in. 

“You have an amazing team here, Phil.”

“I know.”

Steve moved back over to Bucky, and helped him to his feet. “Can I ask one more favour though? I sort of promised Tony we’d stop by before moving on to the next HYDRA base. Can we stop in New York before we go to Bucharest?”

Coulson grinned. “May already has instructions to take us there. There’s someone I need to catch up with too.”

Bucky was on the verge of falling back asleep, as Steve helped him up the stairs and into his bunk. 

“You gonna bunk with me like we did in the army?” Bucky asked with a grin. “I promise I won’t sexually harass you or nothing.”

Steve laughed and shuffled into bed beside Bucky, who immediately slung an arm over his waist and tucked his head under Steve’s chin. He was asleep before Steve had even finished settling himself. 

Steve wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he closed his eyes knowing that for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was actually going to get a restful sleep.

They were going home.

The End.


End file.
